Do you ever sit down in front of a blank page, after finally finishing all of your procrastination, and then just find yourself staring at the blank page with no idea of what to write or where to start?

There’s a brilliant exercise that I read a few years ago, in an incredibly good and depressingly short lived writing magazine, that was all about how to choose your first word when you’re having trouble finding one. It’s quick, as the name suggests. It’s fairly simple, and all you need is a book within easy reach. So I thought I’d share it with you.

Write a scene where one character wants something and have another character represent the obstruction to that want. Make the want anything, examples of which might include love, a penny, a sister, a shirt , a job, sex, marriage, financial success, a spoon. You can try to resolve the scene or leave it unresolved so you can add to it later. Be overt about the need or be subtle about it. Make sure you use visual and sense-based details, including dialogue to reveal the conflict. (Dr. Greg Oaks)

Two characters in conflict over the setting, place them indoors or outdoors, public or private, where one character wants to go and the other one wants to stay. Make sue to include dialogue and details of setting. Use small paragraphs and have a new paragraph each time there is a new speaker. (Dr. Greg Oaks)

Write a first person scene where one character has a disagreement with a very close friend. The dialogue will be leaner and the characters will know how to read each other’s gestures and codes. The disagreement itself might be subtle and not directly stated. Make sure to include setting and character gestures. (Dr. Greg Oaks)

“Parts of Yourself as Different Characters”, pick two contrasting parts of yourself and create two different characters to represent each side and then place those two characters in a particular setting and let them talk.” Dr. Greg Oaks